Los Angeles Lakers' Russell Westbrook runs up the court during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021, in San Antonio, Texas. Los Angeles won 125-121 in overtime. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
This slate is out of control. There are 13 games in total and 26 teams in action. That makes this the most prominent player pool we've seen all year, and it's absolute chaos with all of the injury news out there. What's also interesting is some of the price discrepancies between DraftKings and FanDuel. Some superstar guards have diminished prices on FanDuel, and it's really tough to understand why. We're actually going to kick things off with one of those, so let's get into it!
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Opponent - MIA
Proj Pts FD - 50.91 DK - 54.09
Um, what are these sites thinking? I don't believe I've ever seen a player with a $2,000 discrepancy. Here we are, though, and it makes Westbrook one of the best plays on the board. The simple fact is, Russ is a stat-stuffing animal. He's struggled with his shot and decision-making all year but is still averaging 19.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, 8.9 assists, and 1.6 steals per game since the opener. That equates to a 45-point average, and it makes it impossible to understand why he's this cheap on FanDuel. What makes it even crazier is that LeBron James is out of the lineup, leaving Westbrook with even more stats and usage to swoop up. Just imagine how crazy of a line Westbrook could have if he knocked some shots down!
Opponent - IND
Proj Pts FD - 27.02 DK - 27.55
Morris hasn't given us many games to get excited about this season, but this is a fantastic spot for the former Jayhawk. Morris has been starting as point guard for the Nuggets in the absence of Jamal Murray, regularly playing 30 minutes a night. He was more of a game manager with Nikola Jokic running the point, but now that Joker is suspended and Michael Porter Jr is injured, he has to do more offensively. He's certainly capable of that, averaging 26 DK points per game in the four outings he's played at least 30 minutes this season. That is pretty much what he did in the same role last year, and 30 minutes looks like his floor with how shorthanded this team is right now.
Ricky Rubio is below $6K on both sites and will likely start with Collin Sexton injured.
Opponent - HOU
Proj Pts FD - 33.6 DK - 35.48
This pricing on Cunningham is crazy. He was limited to 19 minutes in his debut but has played at least 29 minutes in all three games since then. That's the minimum we expect to see for the rest of the season, and we genuinely believe this is the sort of guy that will average over 1.2 DK points per minute. He's shown flashes of that recently, scoring 65 combined DK points across 62 minutes over his last two games. He's been doing that damage despite shooting 23 percent from the field and 14 percent from three-point range. Those numbers will likely double over the next month, and we want to be a part of that positive regression. A matchup with Houston only adds to his intrigue, with the Rockets ranked first in pace and 25th in total defense.
Opponent - IND
Proj Pts FD - 30.73 DK - 31.03
Denver players will be a significant theme in this article, and they need to be spread through all of your lineups. They're likely going to be without Jokic, Porter, and Murray here, which happen to be their three-best players. Barton is the fourth-best player, making him an easy choice. He's actually done a lot of play-making when Joker is off the floor, averaging over 31 DraftKings points per game for the season. He's been even better recently, scoring at least 37 fantasy points in each of his last three games. That's a grand total from a $6K player in any circumstance, but it makes it baffling that he didn't receive a price increase here. Indiana is a great matchup, too, with the Pacers sitting 24th in defensive efficiency ratings. Barton killed the Pacers last year, too, averaging 35 fantasy points per game.
PJ Dozier is a sneaky choice for Denver near the minimum.
Opponent - MEM
Proj Pts FD - 34.46 DK - 35.82
The small forward position is easily the toughest one on this slate. With that said, we need to get exposure to this Charlotte-Memphis game, and Hayward is a great way to save some salary. We want to exploit this game because it happens to be the two-worst defenses in the NBA, leading to this ridiculous 231-point total. That's easily the highest on the slate, and it's expected to stay close with the 4.5-point spread. All of that is good news for Gordon, with Hayward scoring at least 41 DK points in three of his last seven games while honing in a 33-point average in that stretch. That looks even better with Memphis surrendering the second-most fantasy points to opposing small forwards.
Opponent - POR
Proj Pts FD - 27 DK - 27.11
Finding value at the weakest position is definitely the best way to go, and there are not many better per-dollar values out there than Bridges. This lengthy wing is probably a better real-life basketball player than fantasy producer, but he's too good to be $5K. We say that because he's averaging over 25 DK points per game, playing 35 minutes a night over his last four fixtures. That boost in production and playing time is simple to understand because Bridges is being asked to do more with Deandre Ayton sidelined. We believe those 35 minutes will be his floor here because Bridges will be asked to guard Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. That puts him in an excellent spot for a handful of stocks as well, when it is evident when you see his 36-point average against Portland in their three meetings last year. Not to mention, both of these clubs rank Top-10 in pace while Portland has one of the worst defenses in basketball.
Jayson Tatum has been stepping up in the absence of Jaylen Brown and is definitely worth it if you have the salary.
Opponent - IND
Proj Pts FD - 32.52 DK - 32.61
Opponent - IND
Proj Pts FD - 26.33 DK - 26.34
Let's cap off our Nuggets stack with a couple of their big men. We'll start with AG, with the former Orlando forward likely playing the Jokic role. They let him play that role in the preseason, and he posted some monster stat lines. He's been a far cry of that with Jokic starting, but we have to believe they'll let him do a lot of work out of the post. It's not like he's been bad anyway, averaging 24.4 DK points per game for the season. That means it will likely be closer to 30 fantasy points with so many players out of the lineup, and that'd make him one of the best values out there at $5,000. Green is the one who will likely start for Jokic, and he's been awesome when given this opportunity. If you look at the six games that Green played at least 27 minutes last year, he averaged 26 fantasy points per game. That would make him one of the best per-dollar players out there, and he should be in your lineup if you hear that JaMychal is starting!
Opponent - NY
Proj Pts FD - 34.91 DK - 34.77
BP has been a per-minute stud throughout his career, and now that he's got an expanded role in Milwaukee, he's becoming a fantasy beast. He's actually started the last two games with Khris Midleton and Brook Lopez out of the lineup, recording double-doubles in both. They weren't empty ones either, averaging 16 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists. 2.5 steals and 2.0 blocks per game. That equates to more than 40 fantasy points, and it makes it hard to understand why he's still so affordable. A matchup with New York is far from problematic, too, with the Knicks sitting 25th in defensive efficiency ratings. It also happens to be a game in MSG, and if you know how crazy Bobby can be, you know he'll be motivated in a venue like that! In his last game at the Garden, Portis dropped 33 DK points in just 26 minutes of play.
Jaren Jackson Jr has at least 31 DK points in three straight games and should benefit from the highest total on the board.
Opponent - MIA
Proj Pts FD - 54.35 DK - 54.64
We already discussed how Los Angeles is trying to cope without LeBron, and it looks like Davis is going to be the man in his absence. With him off the floor last season, AD led the team with a 36 percent usage rate while averaging nearly 1.5 DK points per minute. That's one of the best rates around, and it has really shown recently. Davis has scored at least 65 DK points in the last two games without LeBron, which is crazily not far off of his season average. In the four games without LBJ, AD is averaging over 63 DK points per game. That's hard to overlook, especially from a guy that's proven to be one of the best per-minute producers of all time. Miami is not necessarily a scary matchup for Davis, with AD scoring at least 48 DK points in nine of his last 10 meetings with Miami en route to a 59-point average.
Opponent - POR
Proj Pts FD - 30.55 DK - 30.39
Some strange things are going on with this Ayton situation, but it's been an enormous boost for Frank the Tank. While he hasn't been starting, Kaminsky has been finishing games and playing the most minutes in the frontcourt. In fact, Kaminsky has at least 32 DK points in two of the four games that Ayton has missed. That means you have a 50-50 shot at reaching 7X value, and that's all you can hope for in this racket. The matchup with Portland should force him into even more minutes, needing someone to match up with Jusuf Nurkic. We certainly don't mind that they own an 18th OPRK against opposing centers, either.
If you're looking for a punt play, Drew Eubanks scored 37 fantasy points in his last start for Jakob Poeltl.
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